man in charge of handing out money to businesses in the gulf oil spill, is making a new promise, and lindsay lohan is free today. >> dan: this morning, a major new u.s. offensive began in afghanistan, to push the taliban out of an area they virtually controlled throughout their existence. an abc news crew is on the front line, imbedded with the 101st 101st airborne. >> reporter: -- we're back to make history. we're going to go out there and fight with valor and tremendous bravely. >> reporter: under cover of darkness, a massive and powerful force of 8,000 troops launched operation dragon strike. >> go, go, go! >> reporter: three simultaneous attacks along a river near canada hard. -- canada hard. the green zone, a taliban stronghold never before entered by coalition forces. much of the first day was spent finding and destroying caches of weapons. as for the taliban themselves, there's nowhere to be found, they wisely fled the area to stand and fight another day. combat engineers using plastic explosives have destroyed bombmaking facilities and cleared improvised devices before advancing troo